Car Purchasing

[pop pop]

Looking to purchase another ride. My wife wants a 2017-18 GMC Denali SUV, or a Surburban. Know anyone that has one for sale "Reasonable" If that is possible? Hate buying cars. Most frustrating.  

[ArmyBrat61]

Go to Carvana.com   Customize what you are looking for and NO salesman to irritate you. They even deliver to your driveway. We bought a Rogue that way and will most likely do so again when my truck gets retired. Just my .02

[pop pop]

Never used them before. Not sure if I could. thanks for the suggestion. I am a kick the tires kind of buyer. Old School. 

[Tom B]

To me, all those places like Carvana charge too damn much. I agree about 'tire kicking', I wanna see it in person.

Last year I was in the market for a 'newer' used car that was good on gas and I could drive that around for errands instead of my Silverado. What I found was that used car prices are crazy high, and they only warranty them for a month or 2 at best. For not much more money I bought a new car, have a 36000 mi warranty, and a lifetime drivetrain warranty (to the original owner). Works for me since I keep a vehicle a long time. My Silverado is an '01-lol

[ArmyBrat61]

I was also a tire kicker car buyer. My Dad taught me how/ what/ where to look for a deal but dealerships now a days are even more of a pain in the a**. We went to 5 different dealerships and explained what we were looking for, and without an exception, every salesman tried to steer us to the most expensive vehicle that we did not want. They didn't listen so we walked. My wife found the make/model/year she wanted and we took a test drive at a dealership in Morristown to confirm her decision then bought a much better one from Carvana. No hassles in the financing, no pressure to buy things we didn't need, not pressure at all. I'm not trying to convince anyone to buy from Carvana, just relaying our experience with them. The way we were treated at all 5 different dealerships has reinforced my never going back to them except to test drive a vehicle model I am looking at online. I bought my first car in 1980 and I remember the experience fondly. Your mileage may vary in dealing with the car lots and I wish you good luck. 

[jpx2rk]

Car Max is another place similar to Carvana, all have a website, so surf the web until you find what you're looking for, then go to the dealer lot to kick the tires.  LOL

[Slappy]

There are 2 good websites that compiles lots of different listings.  AutoTempest and CarEdge.  Try those out and you might be able to kick lots of tires that way.   

[Tom B]

As far as a dealership goes, I went to one in Bristol to test drive a car. I liked it, but they played the usual money games. Sticker was higher than the online ad, their offer for my trade in was ridiculous, etc.

So I searched online for the same car. Found one in Knoxville, but they said it was incoming and still on a ship. I figured that was a line of BS, but sure enough it came in when they said it would. When I drove there with my trade in, they gave me a really fair amount for it. The entire transaction had no pressure, even the money guy that tried to sell me an extended warranty, and the paint protection etc. When I said no, he said OK, but that he had to try-lol. Overall the experience was one of the best car buying experiences I ever had. So a  shout out to Harper VW in Knoxville

[Defender]

I’ve had really good experiences with CarMax.  I’ve bought 3 or four From them at my local store in Rivergate/Madison.  They gave me a fair price for trade-in when I traded, offered but didn’t pressure sell extended warranty and no haggle price on vehicle.

[monkeylizard]

3 hours ago, Tom B said:

As far as a dealership goes, I went to one in Bristol to test drive a car. I liked it, but they played the usual money games. Sticker was higher than the online ad, their offer for my trade in was ridiculous, etc.

So I searched online for the same car. Found one in Knoxville, but they said it was incoming and still on a ship. I figured that was a line of BS, but sure enough it came in when they said it would. When I drove there with my trade in, they gave me a really fair amount for it. The entire transaction had no pressure, even the money guy that tried to sell me an extended warranty, and the paint protection etc. When I said no, he said OK, but that he had to try-lol. Overall the experience was one of the best car buying experiences I ever had. So a  shout out to Harper VW in Knoxville

I had a similar great experience at Harper Jeep a few years ago on my Wrangler. I found it online in a search (AutoTempest), called and negotiated a price I liked. I drove over, gave them a check, and took it home. It was easy and no up-selling. I generally dislike dealerships, but whatever Harper's doing, it's the right way to operate.

[monkeylizard]

CarMax has fair prices and a broad inventory. You won't get a steal, but you likely won't get ripped off, either.

I used Carvana once. The whole process was super easy and I went to pick it up at the vending machine on I-65 in Nashville. I'm very particular about my cars' appearance and this one was something like a 90% car in their grading. It would be about a 75% in my book. I drove it around the block, came back, and exercised my 30-day return. The guys working were a little surprised, but got the paperwork together and it was no hassle at all. Lesson learned was that IF I ever want to use Carvana again, I need a car with a 98% or better in their grading.

[i1afli]

My neighbor used Carvana and was not happy with the car when it was delivered.  Was purely a cosmetic issue and Carvana came back and picked it up a week later, no hassle. I think you’re safe purchasing through them.